I really wanted to call this article 'Behind the Bacchanal', but I decided to use a more poised title. However, you must believe me when I say that the journey to get to Woman Evolve 2023 was a frontal attack from the enemy’s battalion.
The thing is that the devil clearly forgot that I do not like him just as much as he does not like me, and that I (Jesus’s daughter, His most beloved) am not one to be messed with, and more so when you try to touch my family!
So, today’s read will be a little longer than my usual articles but stay with me on this adventure of how God is God, about how His will prevails regardless of who or what may try to derail you, and how His protection and provision are secure. This is a story of how the battle belonged to the Lord and how the devil got his tail handed to him, because as I often say, “devil, not me, and not today”!
I wanted to attend Woman Evolve 2023 since I first heard about it late last year and figured that it would be a perfect activity to fulfill one of my 2023 Goals to attend a personal development program. After making what I now consider to be a pitiful attempt to find people to go along with, I allowed the enemy to convince me to abandon the desire.
Thankfully, if you think that the enemy is relentless, you have not yet experienced the unyielding pursuit and prompting of the Holy Spirit. It was just about three weeks before the Woman Evolve conference that I said to myself, ‘listen, I am going and I do not care if that means going alone’. I asked my husband to tag along, though he'd be in the hotel, and in record time we had flights, hotel, and transportation sorted out. I was so proud of myself for making this step and I just knew that God had something major in it for me.
As with all major blessings, there are also major oppositions that are usually instigated by the devil.
One week before we were due to depart my husband came down with this belly bug (that’s what I am calling it). About 4 days before, our son then got the same bug, but his illness was worse. He was throwing up, with diarrhea, was not eating and fever was coming and going. After about 2 days when it wouldn’t subside, I took him to see a doctor and we then followed all the instructions to keep him hydrated and gave him whatever he would eat. By the morning of our travel, our son wasn’t 100% but he was no longer throwing up and he no longer had bad diarrhea.
Just when I thought that the worst was over with the illnesses, after we checked in for our flight, my nostrils gave me the ‘bat’ signal that there was activity in my baby’s pants. I left my husband to finalise the check-in and took our son to the women’s bathroom to clean him up. I picked him up from the stroller and the warm damp feeling on my hand was the first indicator that this was not good. I briefly negotiated how to get his father to deal with it and I was justified in thinking it because it turned out to be the hugest, never-before-seen, blow-out of the century.
It was everywhere; on the stroller, all over his pants and I am still trying to figure out how it got into his hair! I mean how large is the tummy of a 1-year-old; how could there be so much of it? I was thoroughly unprepared, and my sweet little pumpkin ended up naked in the sink of a women’s bathroom in Piarco International Airport getting some version of a bath. I rolled up the soiled clothes, put them into a garbage bag that a kind cleaning lady gave to me, and then threw them straight into the bin.
We were happy to be over that episode and I calculated that with the two extra outfits in his baby bag, we should be okay if there was another episode. We went through the rudiment of clearing security, taking off and putting everything into bins etcetera, cleared security, and then noticed that the thermos with the baby’s water was leaking as the bin was wet. Well, guess what? It wasn’t water… it was juice. Apparently, I didn’t close the juice bottle properly and it made a mess in my son's baby bag, including completely soiling his two remaining outfits.
I am human, so in addition to becoming agitated, I began to question whether we would make it to Arlington and more so with my sanity intact and my child clean and fully clothed. Was I a terrible person for dragging my husband and son along on this hastily planned trip, were thoughts that I began to battle with.
We arrived in Miami from Port of Spain around 1:00 p.m. and were on stand-by to travel directly from Miami to Dallas Fort Worth (DFW). By 4:00 p.m. we made the hard decision to abandon that plan, and in order to get to Dallas that day we chose to go from Miami to Nashville, Tennessee, and then from Tennessee to DFW. We left home in Trinidad at 5:00 a.m. and arrived in DFW 18 hours later at 11:00 p.m. By this time, my son was already asleep and we were all tired. Due to the stand-by arrangement, we were just hopeful that our bags were also in Dallas.
While we were trying to figure out how to collect our bags, I decided to check the cost of the Uber to get us to our hotel which we booked within walking distance of the conference venue. I, therefore, couldn’t understand why the price was double the price I researched while in Trinidad. Anyway, we decided to get our bags and assumed that the high price was because of the time of the night. We took one of those airport connection trains and went to the other end of the airport to collect our bags.
The Uber price which was $32US when I researched it in Trinidad, and $65US on the side of the airport where we landed, was now approximately $115US in the location where we collected our bags. I couldn’t believe it and definitely, did not want to pay that price to get to the hotel. There was a glimmer of hope when we saw the hotel’s shuttle appear outside. I approached the shuttle driver, showed him our hotel’s address and he told me that there were several of the hotels in the vicinity but that he wasn’t assigned to ours.
As I walked back inside feeling dejected, I had this heavy and overwhelming realisation that I booked the wrong hotel and instead of a 10-mile, 15-minute commute, the hotel was 25 miles and 30 minutes away; hence the exorbitant Uber price. By this time it was around 11:30 p.m., my husband was holding our sleeping baby, and as sadness flooded my body, I buried my head in my hand and began to cry. I couldn’t believe I made such a huge mistake and thanks to my desire to get to this conference so far away from home, we may have to pay a ridiculous price to rebook a hotel closer to the event or an even more exorbitant price to commute to and from the conference.
My husband did his best to comfort and reassure me, but I just cried and cried, mainly in disbelief because I have traveled to quite a few countries, even solo, and never before have I made a mistake of this magnitude. Then my husband said and did what he ALWAYS does when situations are bigger than us, he said “Babe, let’s pray”. I was still crying, but I knew God was our only answer, so he prayed and as ALWAYS God answered.
I checked Uber again and miraculously, the price to the same hotel was now $55US!!!!! Praise and thanksgiving were immediate!!! We booked it and were on our way soon after. We drove for what felt like a never-ending distance and with every mile, my heart sank knowing how far away I was getting from the conference venue.
Almost 20 hours after we left home we were finally able to put our heads down on a bed to rest. My husband, in his usual reassuring way, said “Go to bed baby, we will figure it out in the morning”.
When morning came and I internalised that the difficulties of the previous day still could not quench my excitement to be at Woman Evolve, I decided that I was going to be there one way or the other. After calling two rental car companies without success, we looked up a company that ‘happened’ to be in a plaza in the compound adjacent to the hotel and they were able to get us a car for approximately $410US for 4 days. It was more than the $0 I would have spent if I booked the right hotel but it was a decent price and I was prepared to make the sacrifice to get to the conference.
I believe that God must have said, 'Okay baby girl, I’ve got one better for you'! When we finally were able to book the rental after much back and forth with our license and passports registering on the rental car company’s system, the beautiful representative said, ‘Hey I have an upgraded car for you guys and I was able to get it at a better price of $270US”!!!!
Can you imagine what my praises in the people’s car park were like!!! Unrestrained!!! God, look at you, showing me that You ALWAYS show up and always make sure that your children are taken care of.
But guess what, while my son started to feel better, my husband began to feel worse, so much so that he couldn’t drop me or pick me up from the conference. Well, again, we did what we knew to do; we prayed and planned and then I was on my way. I was making a 50-mile round trip, driving on the right side of the road, by myself, to be present at Woman Evolve. It was Jesus and I in that car and when I had to return that first night after the conference ended around 10:30 p.m. He knew I needed Him more than ever.
God is super duper good! I drove myself to and from the conference every day, without accident, incident, or fear, because after God had been showing up like that outside and inside the conference, I was not about to doubt Him or cower in fear for any reason.
By Friday my husband was still reeling from a migraine from the day before and still was not feeling well overall. My son, though more active and eating a bit more, still was not 100%. That morning, I got infuriated with the devil for trying to frustrate God’s divine plan by attacking my family, so I went into attack mode. After about an hour of warfare in prayer, affirmations, declarations, and resolutions, I was done with the enemy and his nonsense. It was time to back off of my family because regardless of what he tried, I was attending the conference and there was nothing he could do about it.
Satan, got the message because I attended 3 power-packed, mountain-moving, stronghold-breaking, purpose-germinating days of Woman Evolve 2023. By Saturday morning, both my husband and son were feeling much better, so much so that they were able to meet me after the conference ended.
When the Lord calls you to go, be prepared for the devil to ramp up his attacks to squash your plans, or to inhibit your progress. The Holy Spirit gave me the warning, but based on past experience, I thought the attacks would have started when I returned from the conference. However, the mission and purpose of Woman Evolve were so powerful that the enemy tried to prevent me from even getting there. It was a frontal attack, that admittedly knocked me a bit off balance for a while. Then God showed up and reminded me to keep my eyes on Him, and to trust that when He is ordering my steps, even the best plans of the enemy are no match for our Mighty God!
Love Ya!
Krystal Baynes-Hoseinee
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